GB Pant University keeping Japanese quails despite ban
Dehradun, April 6
The Uttarakhand wildlife authorities are in a fix over the rehabilitation of a large stock of Japanese quail at present available with Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar. The Central government has banned the breeding and sale of Japanese quail.

Cong announces candidates for civic poll today
Dehradun, April 6
The state unit of the Congress will release the list of its candidates for the civic bodies' election tomorrow.

Aam Aadmi Party, too, in race for Haridwar Mayor's post
Haridwar, April 6
The social activist Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party has decided to contest the elections for the post of Haridwar Mayor.

Hypertension major disease in current scenario: Cardiologist
Haridwar, April 6
With change in lifestyle, eating and working habits, hypertension has emerged as a major disease in the current scenario.

Diabetes awareness drive by Art of Living
Dehradun, April 6
On the eve of World Health Day, the Art of Living in collaboration with leading doctors of the city organised a programme titled ‘Walkathon’ on Rajpur Road to spread awareness about the prevention and management of diabetes. A large number of people participated in it.

HNLU, Raipur, team wins moot court competition
Dehradun, April 6
The College of Legal Studies of University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) organised the 3rd Paras Diwan memorial national moot court competition on ''Energy Laws.'' The competition, from April 4 to 6, was organised in memory of the late Paras Diwan, a legal luminary, acclaimed jurist and a writer par excellence who has to his credit 80 books on family law. Almost all law colleges of this country refer to his books.

Haridwar, April 6
Dozens of farmers hailing from Kisan Sangharsh Samiti today took in possession vacant land falling under Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited, BHEL-Ranipur, here.

Farmers took this step as a mark of protest against BHEL management for failing to cater to their long-term demand of proper rehabilitation or giving back their land, which was taken by the government while setting up BHEL unit.

Kisan Sangharsh Samiti chief Balwant Singh Chauhan said that farmers had given their land in the 70s for development work but still decades later hundreds of acres of that land had not been utilised. ''If our land is not being used by BHEL, then it should be given back. We were not properly rehabilitated, not given preference in BHEL job recruitments, too. More than 1500 acres of land was taken by BHEL. Now we are demanding just 500 acres of that land to be given back to us,'' said Chauhan.

Farmers alleged land mafia was being benefited in this case, saying 92 acres were given to commercial people behind Payal cinema and 30 bighas to property dealers near BSP office in Shivalik Nagar.

Samiti members demanded a CBI probe regarding this matter, pointing that while poor farmers had been exploited by BHEL for years, land mafia was being given opportunities to reap benefits.

The farmers warned of similar agitation in the near future if their demands were not met. BHEL spokesperson denied any exploitation or illegal occupancy of agricultural land of farmers, saying that proper compensation had been given to the farmers already.

Dehradun, April 6
Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha’s national treasurer Nurul Hoda has expressed concern over the pathetic condition of farmers in the country.

Addressing a press conference in Dehradun today, Nurul Hoda said the farmers today were the worst sufferers in the country. He said from the period 1995 to 2010, a total of 70 lakh farmers in the country had switched to other jobs to eke out their living due to rising cost of agriculture production.

He said while Union Government was extending concessions to the corporate giants, it kept little concern towards the farmers. He said decontrolling sugar was one such pro industry step on part of UPA government. “The farmers in the country today cannot even meet out their cost of production and were under debt”, he pointed out.

He also disclosed that Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha was organising farmers’ convention all over the country to discuss farmers’ issues and frame out the future course of agitation.

Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha Uttarakhand office-bearers Bachchi Ram Konswal and Gangadhar Nautiyal were prominent persons present on the occasion.

Dehradun, April 6
The Uttarakhand wildlife authorities are in a fix over the rehabilitation of a large stock of Japanese quail at present available with Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar. The Central government has banned the breeding and sale of Japanese quail.

A Schedule IV species under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, the farming, breeding, capturing or hunting of Japanese quail is strictly prohibited under the wildlife laws.

To promote poultry among farmers, the university has been promoting the farming of this bird for meat purposes for the past five years in gross violation of the provisions of the Act. But after the intervention of the People for Animals Uttarakhand, which apprised the university authorities about the ban, the latter stopped its breeding.

The university even approached the state wildlife authorities to hand over to them the remaining stock of Japanese quail. But the wildlife authorities seem little interested in taking these birds into their possession despite repeated pleas by GB Pant University in this regard. Dean, GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Dr GK Singh said while they had stopped the breeding and sale of Japanese quail, they had urged the Uttarakhand wildlife authorities to take the available stock of the bird available with the university. The wildlife authorities had failed to respond so far. “I have written a letter to the Uttarakhand Chief Wildlife Warden for the rehabilitation of the Japanese quails still with us, but we are yet to get a response,” Dr GK Singh said.

On the other hand, the state wildlife authorities claimed that lack of space was proving to be a hindrance in the rehabilitation of the Japanese quails seized after the ban.

Interestingly, the wildlife division of the Union Environment and Forests Ministry, in its order dated September 22, 2011, to the forest secretaries and the Chief Wildlife Wardens of all states and union territories, had stated that the Japanese quail was a Schedule IV species under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and thus as per the provisions of the Chapter III and the Chapter I, Section 2 (16) and 2 (5) of the Act, it is both wild as well as captive breed and could not be killed, hunted or captured.

But the Uttarakhand wildlife authorities had so far shown no interest in implementing the order in the state.

Haridwar, April 6
With change in lifestyle, eating and working habits, hypertension has emerged as a major disease in the current scenario.

Dr Purushottam Lal

As per medical practitioners citing World Health Organisation report, the hypertension is taking toll of 7.5 million deaths annually, which is quite alarming.

Renowned cardiologist Padma Vibhushan awardee Purushottam Lal said that about one billion people or 25 per cent of the world's adult population is hypertensive, leading to cardio vascular diseases, heart attacks, strokes and heart failure.

Taking this into account this year the theme of the World Health Day is high blood pressure.

“We have surveyed that hypertension among lower and middle class population is on rise in India. This can be mainly attributed to smoking, high alcohol consumption and stress in this set of population. Among the affluent class, physical inactivity and dietary changes are two main causes of hypertension. Add to this an upward trend in consumption of food items like energy drinks, preserved frozen food, which have been closely related in disturbing heart rhythm leading to high blood pressure,” said Dr Lal.

Due to this alarming level, the theme of World Health Day 2013 has been made high blood pressure.

To counter hypertension, Lal, who works at Metro Hospital, suggested getting blood pressure checked on regular basis. Based on its mild, moderate or severe levels, steps starting from diet control and exercise to anti hypertensive pills could help to control it.

While Indian Medical Association, Uttarakhand chapter, general secretary Sanjay Shah, recommended ''healthy lifestyle, weight loss, nutritious diet, avoiding junk-fatty food, physical regimen, avoiding stress, less salt intake and eating in a proportion to the physical outwork we do, as well as avoidance of tobacco-alcohol as a must for healthy heart.''

He also pointed that in hill districts of Uttarakhand too heart disease is now being reported on a large scale. Lal said that government had still failed to realise and take measures for mass scale penetration of heart diseases in rural and hilly regions.

Dehradun, April 6
The College of Legal Studies of University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) organised the 3rd Paras Diwan memorial national moot court competition on ''Energy Laws.'' The competition, from April 4 to 6, was organised in memory of the late Paras Diwan, a legal luminary, acclaimed jurist and a writer par excellence who has to his credit 80 books on family law. Almost all law colleges of this country refer to his books. UPES holds this national competition every year.

Students and aspiring lawyers from 20 prestigious law colleges, including 5 national law universities from various states of India competed against one another with passion to prove their point and become the ''Masters of judicial courts.'' These included School of Excellence in Law, Chennai, Rajiv Gandhi National Law University , Patiala, Amity Law School, Delhi, Lucknow & Jaipur, Nirma University, UIPS, Delhi, ILS, Pune, Jamia Milia University, Symbiosis Law School, Pune, RML National Law University, Lucknow, National Law University, Jodhpur, Sastra University, Tanjore, National Law University, Orissa, IIT, HNLU, Raipur, UILS, Shimla, SLS, Noida & UPES.

The teams were adjudged by the most eminent panel of legal luminaries which consisted of practising advocates of the Supreme Court, High Courts and district courts, which included Justice BR Kannan, a sitting Judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court ,

Venkatramani, a senior advocate, Supreme Court , Manju Goyal, a retired Chief Justice of Delhi High Court , Mohd. Naseem, Additional Chief Legal Advisor of OVL.

After a rigorous and witty battle of brains, it was a showdown between HNLU, Raipur, and Amity Law School, Delhi, in the finals. The finals were nothing less than a photo finish.

The eventual winner was the team from HNLU, Raipur, comprising Aditi Sachdeva, Neelanjana Bhattacharya and Sonal Gridonia.

The runners up team from Amity Law School, Delhi, comprised Neerja Gurunani, Sidharth Deem and Shivak Didd.

The first prize for best speaker went to Sanjana Tikoo from Jamia Milia Islamia, the second prize was won by Varsha Raman of ILS, Pune, and the third prize was given to Sheela Visalaksmi of Sastra University in the presence of SJ Chopra, Chancellor, UPES, Parag Diwan, Vice Chancellor, UPES, and Utpal Ghosh, Pro Vice Chancellor, UPES.

Arun Dhand, Director, Media Affairs of UPES, said that that moot courts, needless to say, went a long way in inculcating legal professional skills, legal acumen, communication skills, court etiquette amongst the future and budding legal professionals of this country.

Dehradun, April 6
Governor Dr Aziz Qureshi yesterday reviewed the workings of the managing committee of the Uttarakhand Sainik Punarwas Sanstha and the UPNL.

At a meeting organised at the Raj Bhavan Secretariat, the Governor first obtained information about the objectives behind the creation of the two organisations, their administration and their activities.

In his capacity as chairman of the Uttarakhand Sainik Punarwas Sanstha, the Governor gave various directions which would help the organisation fulfil its goals.

During his review of the UPNL, he said there was need for improving the working of this organisation and for bringing transparency.

He said the UPNL should work more seriously so that benefits of welfare schemes being run by it could reach ex-servicemen and their dependents.

Subjects on which the Governor obtained information included the forest land given on lease by the Uttarakhand Punarwas Sanstha, the income and expenses of the UPNL, its profits since its inception, information about the staff of the UPNL (contractual) and their salary etc.

Present at the meeting were Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain, PS to the Governor Shri Ashok, PS DP Gairola, Legal Adviser to the Governor G Sharma, Principal Secretary (Forests and Environment) S Ramaswamy, Secretary Bhaskaranand Joshi, Additional Secretary to the Governor DS Pandian, UPNL MD Brig Bahuguna (Retd), Col RP Singh and several officials of both organisations.

Dehradun, April 6
Doon Tigers defeated The Asian School by four wickets in the second semi-final to enter the final of the 5th All India Uttarakhand Cup cricket Tournament played at Rangers College ground here today.

Batting first after winning the toss, The Asian School team scored 245 for nine wickets in 40 overs. Opener Amardeep scored 43 runs while Priyanshu and scored 41 and Ravi Bisht 42 runs. Vipin Kashyap also scored 33 runs.

Deepak Bansal took four wickets for 48 runs while Pradeep Parashar took two wickets for 53 runs.

In reply, Doon Tigers scored 246 runs for six wickets in 37.3 overs to win the match by four wickets.

Harshit Tyagi contributed 78 runs while Shivam remained unbeaten on 69 runs. Ravinder Rawat took three wickets for 36 runs.

Doon Tigers will take on SJ Cricket Academy, Jaipur, in the final match to be played tomorrow.